


King of the Death Gods

by Demonized



Category: Death Note
Genre: M/M, Wordcount: Over 10.000
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-24
Updated: 2016-03-11
Packaged: 2018-02-26 22:00:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2667932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demonized/pseuds/Demonized
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was supposed to be cast into Mu for the rest of eternity, but the Divine have other plans for him. Now he's been made King of the Death Gods and tasked with bringing life back to the languishing Shinigami Realm. The right hand to the Former King of Shinigami dislikes this new appointment and tricks him into reliving through his human life. The only difference is that he stills keeps his new powers, as well as his memories, which is an unexpected calculation that he keeps hidden.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Crimson King

Ryuk had returned to the Shinigami Realm with his hopes of starting some more fun in the Human Realm crushed by the weird little child that had succeeded L. It was still the same dark, dreary and boring realm he knew it to be. His fellow Shinigami were in their usual spots, doing whatever it was that seemed to entertain them, except for Rem. Rem was dead, he supposed, because she had been stupid enough to get attached to a human. Ryuk would never let himself get attached to anyone like that. His life was much more important than a human's no matter how much he liked any one of them. Light had been his favorite thus far, but had Ryuk sacrificed himself for him? Nope.

Flying past the group of perpetually boring Shinigami that spent their days in laziness and gambling, he ignored their calls for him to come join them. Ryuk went on to where their King was, landing some feet away from the entrance of the equally dull and dreary throne room, his wings folding and disappearing as he walked through the opened doors. He gave a perfunctory bow once he stopped at the foot of the stairs that ascended to the King Shinigami's throne, and upon coming out of it he let his gaze go upward to the figure on the throne. His jaw immediately went slack, for seated upon the throne was not the skeletal figure that he was accustomed to, but the unmistakable figure of Yagami Raito. The Shinigami King was nowhere to be seen, nor was he now a thought in Ryuk's mind, which was instead focused on the impossible presence of Raito.

Yagami Raito was lounging on the throne, his expression very much like that of a cat who had gotten the canary. His glowing irises, no longer brown but a bright crimson, were fixed on Ryuk while a charming yet dangerous smile formed on his lips. "Well, this certainly is a surprise, Ryuk," the human mused, his tone sending a shiver down the Shinigami's spine. "Wasn't I supposed to go to Mu once I died?" Raito sneered, his expression dark as he straightened himself upon the throne.

Ryuk nodded a bit dumbly, because in truth Yagami Raito should have been cast into Mu the very instant he died. All previous human users of the Death Note had shared in that same fate and their souls were in Mu, but Raito was not. It was impossible! Unless... "Someone intervened in your destination."

"That would be correct, you wretched creature," a soft, lilting voice stated, causing the both of them to look around. A figure appeared at the foot of the steps, ensconced in a white glowing light that made their features hard to distinguish. "My Lord spared you the fate of spending the rest of all time in Mu, Yagami Raito, for you have done what even no Shinigami would dare to. What they are tasked to do." At this the voice became harsh, anger inflected in its tone as the figure faced Ryuk.

The Shinigami merely stared at the ethereal figure in return, a toothy grin present on his face despite the accusatory statement. "It was not my decision to let the other Shinigami become lazy. This world languished because of the King and the decisions he made. Our world is far more rotten than that of the humans."

"And for that very reason my Lord has spared Raito his fate. He is the only one who can bring this world back to life." For it had once been lush and grand, the fruit that the Shinigami so loved bountiful and divine in taste. Their forms had also been different, twisting into the wretched things they were this day thanks to the former King. "Be warned, though, Yagami Raito, that if you fail in the duty bestowed upon you, you will be stripped of your status and cast into non-existence." A fate which was worse than even Mu. Mu, though it was nothingness, granted the souls cast there some type of awareness. Non-existence would erase the person entirely.

Raito nodded, a stricken expression on his face as he regarded the unknown entity. Whatever powers this creature held was far beyond the scope of what he could comprehend. Factor in that this was a mere follower of some other divine entity... "What happened to the previous Shinigami King?" It was an innocent enough question, and certainly he should know what became of his predecessor.

"Cast into Mu in your stead." Came the steely reply.

"I see. Is there anything else I should know of?" Raito asked, his head canted to one side, crimson gaze now half-lidded.

"You are not bound by any laws or rules like your lesser Shinigami are, with the exception that you enforce whatever rules you set for them." The figure floated up towards Raito and extended a hand to him. In its grasp was a pure white book lined in pitch black, much larger than the Death Note that Ryuk and the other Shinigami carried. "This is your Note, Yagami."

Raito frowned and took the Note from the entity, the book weighing as if it were nothing. Once it was in his grasp the unknown entity vanished, making the new King's expression sour. He didn't have a chance to speak on his irritation, as he had more questions, because the white Note began glowing with an intensity that matched the entity's. Raito too began to glow, power flowing into him and then there was pain.

So much pain.

He was dying all over again.

It coursed through his entire body before gathering and concentrating in his back, where his shoulder blades were. The pressure began to build, and he screamed as he fell to the dais the throne was on. There came a wet, tearing sound as something forced its way out from under his skin, and the pain lessened immediately, leaving him shaking and half curled up on the hard stone dais.

Ryuk, who had been too stunned at first as he witnessed the birth of the new Shinigami King, made his way up the steps and crouched down beside Raito. Never in his long life had he seen anything like that, and once the glowing finally ebbed, he marveled at how human his new King still appeared, with only the addition of a large pair of feathered wings, as crimson as the blood that was dripping off of them. "Raito..."

The named person in question trembled, his wings fluttering momentarily before going completely limp. After several minutes, the pain fully gone now, he slowly shifted and sat up, causing Ryuk to hastily move away. He focused his gaze on Ryuk, his expression calm as a wealth of knowledge flooded his brain. "I'm fine, Ryuk."

Ryuk backed off even further as Raito slowly stood up, gazing around himself as if he were seeing the throne room for the first time. The Lesser Shinigami began to grow nervous when that crimson gaze was suddenly on him, scrutinizing him closely.

"Lesser Shinigami Ryuk, I hereby promote you to the status of Greater Shinigami and to the rank of second-in-command." Raito stated as he returned to his throne. His wings, now dry, retracted into his back so that he could sit more comfortably.

As soon as the new King was finished speaking a strange feeling overcame Ryuk. Everything in his body felt as though it were twisting, stretching and then shrinking. This carried on for several minutes, and when it finally stopped he was left kneeling on the steps, human hands pressed to the ground. Sitting up, he marveled at his new hands, turning them over and then looking his arms over before he finally started to feel his face and hair. His features had changed, though there were no mirrors around for him to see what he now looked like, but his appearance bore some resemblance to his previous form.

"Go and gather all of the Lesser Shinigami. Tell them to present themselves to their new King, Ryuk." Raito commanded once he felt his second-in-command had enough time to check out what he could of his new appearance.

Startled, Ryuk looked up to Raito, before he bowed his head. "Yes, my King."


	2. Dissent

He had known immediately that something was wrong, but not what. Not only that, but there was a shift in the Shinigami realm. Closing his eyes and spreading out his senses, he tried searching for his master. After only a few seconds his eyes snapped open and he sagged on the throne he had crafted for himself out in the wastelands of their realm. His master was nowhere to be found, and in his place was a presence that eclipsed that of his master, but for some reason it was familiar.

Standing up from his throne, Armonia Justin Beyondormason felt a rage simmering within himself. His action drew the attention of the few wastes of Shinigami near him, for he had never been known to move from his throne, and they stared at him with fear in their eyes. Useless fools.

The beating of wings filled the air and everyone now turned their attention to the approaching party, as they figured that this had something to do with Justin (as he preferred to be called) moving. They were not disappointed, for the majority of them were awed at the almost entirely unfamiliar figure that landed in their midst.

The winged human creature had short, spiky black hair, which looked like Ryuk's, and the overall shape of his face was nearly the same, but… He wasn't gangly, his skin was a healthy color for a human and his sclera were also white, but his irises were an inhuman red. This was indeed a Shinigami, for they saw that his lifespan was that of Ryuk, and it was also his name.

"Is… that really you, Ryuk?" Sidoh asked, his grip tightening on his own Death Note.

Ryuk turned to Sidoh and grinned, flashing razor sharp teeth. "Sidoh! Justin! Everyone! I've come to tell you that our new King summons you to his presence." He gave a gleeful chuckle, and the present Shinigami, aside from Justin, looked a little confused and then shocked.

"Why do you look like that, Ryuk?" Sidoh asked as he brought his wings out and rose to the air with the other Shinigami. The only ones who remained on the ground were Ryuk and Justin, not that he noticed the latter remaining there.

"Our King will explain everything," Ryuk replied, waving the mummified bird-like Shinigami off. Once Sidoh and the others left, he turned his attention to Justin, whom was glaring at him. "What's the matter, Justin?" He titled his head to one side and grinned dangerously at the bejeweled Shinigami. "This realm is dying, and it's the old King's fault. You helped him! Don't go getting your feathers all ruffled because he's gone now."

"You're a traitor, Ryuk!" Justin snapped and tried to call on the powers that had been granted to him by the former King. Nothing happened, and Ryuk only continued to grin that damnable grin. "What did you do?!"

"Me? I didn't do a single thing!" Ryuk flapped his wings and took to the air, his task of gathering the Lesser Shinigami done. "Raito, however… He's the one in charge now."

Raito? Hadn't that been the human… "Impossible! He was sentenced to Mu!" Justin roared, his wings appearing and unfurling.

"And he was spared!" Ryuk informed him with a guffaw. "He's King now, Justin, and he wants all Lesser Shinigami brought to him."

Lesser Shinigami? Lesser Shinigami! He was no Lesser Shinigami! Gritting his teeth, Justin took off and headed in the direction of the King's Palace, with Ryuk tailing behind him and laughing all the way.

-KotDG-

Raito stared down at the numerous Lesser Shinigami that had gathered before him, an expression of thoughtfulness on his countenance. There were more than he had thought, but that was more than enough for what he wanted to do. Glancing up as Ryuk arrived with the last of the Lesser Shinigami, he motioned for his second-in-command to come stand beside the throne, which sent a whisper through the mass before them. He stood up, which made the room fall silent and every Shinigami had their eyes on him.

"Some of you may recognize me," he began, his crimson gaze sweeping over the array of faces. He smirked faintly as they all nodded, for his battle with L had been one that was widely known throughout the Shinigami Realm. "Who I was… That person no longer matters. Who I am now…" He let his wings appear, a faint glow emitting from his skin, and the reaction was instantaneous from most. Nearly all of them were awestruck, for they had never heard of a human becoming a Shinigami. "I am your King." Let alone the King of the Shinigami. "And I must say… I am severely disappointed in what I see before me."

The Lesser Shinigami all gasped, shocked, while at the back of the group Justin watched on, his rage silently building.

"You waste your lives away, gambling day in and day out while our Realm dies. Was this Realm not a glorious place? Were your forms not like mine or Ryuk's when the Realm was prosperous?!" Raito watched them all carefully as they nodded to his questions, and he paced the width of the dais his throne sat upon. "Did you not need to look beyond our Realm for food that was edible?" Not that they needed physical sustenance. "Where has your pride as a Shinigami gone? I look at those of you here before me, and I see wretched creatures with no pride."

That statement, though true, stung and many of the Shinigami murmured angrily.

"Things are going to change. I am going to give you a means to get your pride back, as well as bring life back to this Realm." He beckoned for Ryuk to come forward, and once the Greater Shinigami was at his side he pointed out at the crowd. "Each and every one of you will be given a chance to better yourselves. Each and every one of you will have a chance to be promoted to a Greater Shinigami, like Ryuk." This caused the angry murmurs to stop and now everyone was staring at Ryuk in wonderment.

Greater Shinigami? Such a thing had been unheard of, or so they thought.

"With this new status, once bestowed to you, comes more power. Fewer rules and laws will apply to you. No longer will you have to worry about killing mortals to take their remaining lifespan. Do your part to help this Realm flourish once more, and I will see to it that you are rewarded." Raito's smirk grew as a chatter of excitement began, the Lesser Shinigami excited by the promise of not worrying over lifespans and having more power. "Now, each of you will be assigned to a certain sector…"

-KotDG-

Raito happily collapsed on his throne, the Lesser Shinigami leaving his palace to go out and take lives like they were supposed to. Some had thought to do what he had as a mortal, which was to slay the criminals of the human realm, leaving him to correct them. His goal as a human was now irrelevant, and they were to simply take lives accordingly. Each had a quota to fill, and a percentage of the life energy that the Shinigami gained from each kill would go towards replenishing the Shinigami realm.

They had wondered at how he would do that, to which he explained that it was because he willed it. No laws applied to him, for he was the King, with the exception of keeping the Realm alive. He also wrote the laws and could change or do away with existing ones.

Now, the only Lesser Shinigami left behind was the one that had been silent the entire time at the back of the gathering. Eyeing this one, Raito frowned slightly and sat up. "Is there a problem?"

"Ah, Rai-" Ryuk had been watching Justin too, and with the former right-hand of the former King lingering around… Something didn't bode well. Raito, however, had motioned for him to be silent, and so he could only nod and watch.

"Ryuk, would you please go and make sure that everyone is doing as I asked of them?" Raito asked, his crimson gaze flicking towards his second-in-command for a brief second. His attention went back to Justin while Ryuk sputtered for a moment, before giving a sigh of defeat and leaving. "Now, I will ask again. Is there a problem?"

Justin stared up at Raito for a few seconds, before he slowly walked forward and forced himself to bow. "If my King would entertain an old Shinigami… I was merely wondering if you were aware of the situation regarding one of the watching pools." He had been thinking of a way to get rid of this usurper the entire time, and so far his only plan was to trick him into something forbidden. One of the watching pools of the Shinigami Realm allowed a viewer to observe the past. They could observe any point in time they wanted, of whomever or whatever they wanted. The catch was, however, that they could not enter the pool, which was linked to the past. It would send them back into that time, but as the usurper was now King… Further trickery would need to be involved.

"I sense nothing wrong with the watching pools," Raito stated slowly, a frown on his face.

"If I could but show you, my King, then perhaps you would understand," Justin said in a measured, apologetic tone. Sneaking a glance up at Raito, he spotted the White Death Note that the King held and knew just how he would go through with his plan. Without that Note… He would be trapped in the past, trapped in a mortal body. If he himself went back into the past and presented that White Death Note to his master… Maybe he could save him.

"Please, lead the way." Raito got up from his throne and descended down the stairs, so that he could follow Justin to wherever it was the Shinigami wanted to lead him.

-KotDG-

"This is the pool." Justin stated as he landed a fair distance away from the watching pool. He grinned to himself as Raito landed beside the pool and knelt down, a frown on his face.

"This is a pool to observe the past," Raito stated softly. He extended a hand over the pool and closed his eyes, trying to sense if there was actually anything wrong with it. While he was doing that, familiar images formed on the surface of the pool. His human death, L, the events that had transpired between them, his life. Eyes opening after he couldn't find anything wrong, he stared at the surface of the pool as everything played out for him to see.

Justin took this opportunity while Raito was occupied and snuck up behind him, thankful that his steps made no sound. Leaning down, he snatched the White Death Note from the holster that Raito had created for it, then gave the usurper a hard shove. A gleeful grin stretched across his face as the usurper gave a cry and tried to twist around to look at him. "I'll see to it that you get what you deserve."

Raito fell into the pool and as soon as he was fully submerged the images began to rewind, going all the way back to the day that Ryuk had dropped his Death Note into the human realm. Once they had, he vanished into that time, returning to his mortal body just like Justin had planned. "Now," he started, holding up the White Death Note, "to take this to my master." He started for the pool, but before he could get anywhere close to it a very pissed of Ryuk appeared before him.

Ryuk had known that Justin was up to something. He had never really liked the conceited Shinigami, and this crime that he had just committed put him at the very top of his list. "You idiot!" Spotting the White Death Note in Justin's grasp, Ryuk understood fully what the Lesser Shinigami intended to do. Not if he could help it. Lunging forward, he snatched the White Note out of Justin's grasp then used this wings to quickly take to the air. There was really only one thing he could do now, and that was to return the White Note to Raito. Before Justin could come up after him, he angled himself and dove into the pool after Raito. What he didn't realize was that the pool had changed what it was showing, so where he would end up, though in the same time as his King, wasn't anywhere close to Japan.

Justin, who hadn't anticipated on Ryuk, let out a scream of wordless rage and stumbled towards the pool. The image had already changed, yet again, and refused to show him any of what he wanted. In fact, after several minutes the pool showed nothing.


	3. The White Note

He plummeted to the earth. His wings, though they were flapping frantically, did nothing to slow his descent. The aerial view of Japan would have been a breathtaking one, were it not for the fact that he couldn't stop his fall, couldn't go to the Shinigami Realm.

There was a strange sensation of disconnect within him, and fear gripped him. His Note wasn't with him. Justin had taken it before pushing him into that damnable pool. Separated from the Note, he was cut off from a very large portion of his power, especially since he was in the human realm and the Note in the Shinigami Realm. That Note was _vital_ to his existence.

While the ground rapidly approached below him he suddenly felt his connection to his Note come to life. He couldn't sense who had the Note, but it was here in the same realm, only it was very far away from him. The connection began to fade, until it was faint, nearly sending him into a panic. The connection remained, however, a tiny pinprick in his mind.

A familiar cityscape greeted him after a few more seconds, and then he realized that he was falling towards an all too familiar school. His _high school_.

Why would he be falling towards the school, of all places? He had been pushed into the watching pool that let one observe the past, so… was he truly in the past? He had gained a lot of knowledge, but it was only basic knowledge as to how that particular pool worked. He knew it was forbidden to enter the pool, but the why of it…

Flinching as he phased through the rooftop, for which he had totally been unprepared for and not expecting, he was startled to realize how human of a reaction that had been. Ryuk had been able to phase through any and everything, it had seemed, so it made sense that he too could also phase through physical objects and surfaces. The incoming second floor he was prepared for, and the sight that greeted him, though brief, once he had passed through the floor, nearly had him flabbergasted. The span of time he had, however, before he _hit_ his human self's body, was very brief, and then the world went black.

-KotDG-

His sudden decision to dive into the watching pool of reminiscence, though smart, had separated him from Raito. Ryuk could sense the fledgling Shinigami King a great distance away, over Japan and falling at a stellar rate. It was curious, as to why his King was falling, while he remained aloft, his wings spread wide, and looking down at the White Note he held, the Greater Shinigami frowned. Was it because this was not in Raito's possession?

Down below him was Great Britain, and he didn't think much of it, moving to pocket his King's Death Note so that it wouldn't get lost. There was some sort of disturbance, he wasn't able to tell what it was, but it made him lose his grip on the White Note.

"Oh no!" Ryuk immediately dove down after it, but the Note _fell_ at a speed that should have been impossible. In fact, the damn thing seemed like it had a mind and will of its own, because he could have sworn that it was falling at an angle. Straining his wings, the Shinigami did his best to catch up to it, and watch in vain as it landed at the feet of the most unsuspecting person ever.

Ryuk halted his descent, some few feet up above a man who was, by all rights, supposed to be dead. Blinking at the name hovering in front of him, the Shinigami's mouth fell open. It was possible, because he and Raito were now in the past. He could only watch helplessly as _L Lawliet_ stared down at the book that had fallen from the sky.

A thumb was brought up to the detective's mouth and lightly nipped at as a coal black gaze went from the book up to the sky. There seemed to be some sort of debate as to whether he should pick up this mysterious white book trimmed in black.

Ryuk continued to hesitate, because he wasn't sure if he could even pick the White Death Note up now that it had touched human realm soil. After what seemed to be further deliberation on L's part, though, the Shinigami continued hovering overhead as the human picked the Note up.

-KotDG-

Everything seemed to hurt, and there was this nagging feeling that something important had happened. Squeezing his eyes shut tighter, he was vaguely aware that someone was frantically calling his name. And shaking him. He needed to open his eyes, assess whatever was going on and try to figure out why his wings hadn't worked. Forcing his eyes open, a task he found rather difficult to do, his vision was assaulted by too bright lights which were partially blocked out by large, blurry masses that seemed to be looming over him. There was also glaring red glows that he couldn't make out, hovering over the blurry masses.

"!"

Raito blinked, several times in fact, and everything quickly snapped back into focus. Standing over him was the teacher and the school nurse. The red glows over their heads, which had faded to the point that he could barely see them, were their names and a long complicated mass of numbers that continually ticked down. _Their lifespans._ They were calling for him, but for some reason his brain was taking its sweet time to get things in working order.

Why was everything so difficult? His body also felt so very heavy, compared to the absolute weightlessness he had experienced before. Shifting his body, he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked around himself then up at the teacher and the nurse.

"Are you okay, Yagami-san?" The nurse asked, reaching down to feel his forehead. She immediately retracted her hand at the iciness of Raito's skin, her eyes going large as a worried look quickly formed on her face. "Would you like to come to the infirmary?"

Raito blinked, having felt the warmth of her hand (though he thought nothing of it) then gave a slow shake of his head. "I'm okay." _I think._ He got up off of the ground, a little unsteady at first, and then eased himself back into his seat. "I'll call my mother or father and have one of them come and pick me up once class is over." A quick glance at the clock told him he only had another thirty minutes to sit through.

"Are you sure, Yagami-san?" This time it was the teacher.

Raito looked around at his classmates, all of whom were staring at him, the girls in concern and the guys in disbelief (for a majority of them). "I'll be fine."

There were faint whispers going around, or at least they were supposed to be faint. He could hear every word being said by his classmates. The girls were mostly concerned for his health, and wanted to sleep with him. The majority of the guys thought that the _teacher's pet_ was merely trying to get more attention.

The nurse reluctantly left the classroom while the teacher went back up to the blackboard to resume the lesson. Glancing out of the window, and thankfully not getting called on due to whatever had happened, he turned his thoughts to his new situation. He was in the past. That much he was sure of, but he had full recollection of his life already, and knew that his memories weren't some sort of fucked up dream. The faint red glow of names and lifespans over everyone's heads was proof enough. He was obviously in his human body, which he had been falling towards upon his entrance into the past human realm.

Almost too deep in his thoughts, he blinked when a familiar black object appeared and fell to the ground in the courtyard outside. He knew what that object was, a thin black notebook with Death Note written on it. It was the one that Ryuk had dropped, and if he was in the past, then today was… _I need to get the Death Note_. His gaze searched out the clock on the wall and he noted that only fifteen minutes remained on the clock. Quickly thinking, he raised his hand.

"Yagami-san?"

"May I be excused? I'm not feeling well after all." Raito carefully schooled his features to display a look a weariness, his hand going to lightly touch his temple.

"Hai, Yagami-san. Be sure to call your mother or father to come and pick you up."

He let his expression change accordingly, and Raito gave a shallow nod as he gathered his things. There were quite a few murmurs as he left, moving at a slow pace so as to not raise any suspicion. He already had his route mapped out in his head, and the courtyard was a viable path to the school administration office where he would place the call to one of his parents. He had to keep the ruse up, even though he was beginning to feel fine.

Once he was out in the hall and a few feet away from the classroom door he quickened his pace. There wasn't anyone out just yet, aside from the appropriate staff. Heading outside, he scanned the center of the courtyard for the Death Note. If memory served correctly, it had fallen beside some bushes in the center, near the sidewalk. Aware that someone could be watching, especially from the classroom he had just left, he took his time walking along the route that would take him by the Death Note on his way to the administration office.

Relief filled him when he finally came upon it and he picked the Death Note up without any hesitation. It wasn't the same as his White Note, but he could feel the bond take hold between himself and what he knew to be Ryuk's Death Note. _Not my Ryuk, but the one of the past…_ Well, that was his Shinigami too, but as he was in the past, the Shinigami held no loyalty to him. He also had to remember that the Ryuk of this time was still a Lesser Shinigami.

Raito tucked the Death Note into his backpack and then made his way to the office to place that phone call. It was something that he was secretly dreading, in all honesty.

-KotDG-

"The probability that I am hallucinating due to my high-sugar intake is exceedingly low. Studies are inconclusive, and as their subjects are of lesser intelligence I put the chance that I am hallucinating at one percent."

Ryuk gave L Lawliet a blank stare.

"Your explanation that you are a Shi-ni-ga-mi is highly unbelievable. Death Gods do not exist."

Ryuk inwardly sighed and gave his wings an irritated flap, which drew L's gaze to them.

"Yet here you are, hovering in midair with no visible wires, or any possible way to keep yourself aloft. I did not see you until I picked this book up, which also appeared with no reasonable explanation."

Ryuk desperately wanted to go and hit his head on one of the trees some thirty feet away.

"You said that I needed to return this book to you so that you could return it to your king. I do not see anyone else around, and you already have a book of your own."

"He's not here, human. Now _please_ give me **his** Death Note back." Ryuk was ready to just off the damn detective, but he wasn't sure how Raito would react to that.

"I do not see a name in here, therefore I shall keep the book." L held the White Note to his chest, having already deduced that if the Death God had been able to, he would have taken the _Death Note_ from him.

Ryuk sighed aloud this time and rubbed his faced with a hand for a few seconds. He couldn't kill L. He wasn't able to take the Death Note from him, even if it was Raito's. Leaving the detective and the Death Note with no supervision would prove unwise. "Just don't use it and don't let anyone else touch it." He hadn't thought that the human would be able to see him once he picked up the Note, because no other Shinigami could claim the White Note as their own. It was reserved for the one it recognized as King and that one alone. "I won't let you out of my sight while you have that Death Note, human."

"Hn."

"…Hey. Got any apples?"


	4. Reacquainted with Humanity

He sat in the passenger seat of the car, holding on to his backpack with a tight grip, as though the Death Note inside of it would disappear. His mother had been the one that he had called, and so she had come and picked him up with no small amount of confusion on her part. Other than the fact that there had been some sort of incident, she didn't notice anything else different about him.

"All you do is study, Raito. Are you getting enough sleep?"

He glanced over at his mother, the name Yagami Sachiko faintly hovering over her head. Raito did his best to ignore the numbers that were under her name, a feeling of guilt at what he had done to his family forming an icy knot in his gut. "I might have stayed up a little later than usual last night… Promise you won't tell dad?" Maybe this would be his chance to change things… He didn't want to involve his family, they didn't deserve that, but he did need to figure out how to get back to his own time and to the Shinigami Realm.

"I won't. I want you to go up to your room and straight to bed when we get home, Raito." Her tone was firm and left no room for any argument.

"Yes, Kaa-san." Raito managed a weak and faint smile while his mother just sighed and continued driving them to their home. He had no need to return to his human ideals and to try to create a utopia free of evil. He wasn't human anymore, even if he was back in a human body. He didn't know how this would work out though.

The rest of the drive was spent in silence and when they pulled into the driveway Raito waved his mother off. "I can walk, Kaa-san." He lead the way up the steps and into the house, his mother's worried gaze on his back. He gave her a smile over his shoulder to ease her mind then went upstairs to his bedroom.

"I'll bring you something up at dinner time," she called after him.

"Okay, Kaa-san." He went into his bedroom and shut the door. She wouldn't come in without knocking first, and it was likely that she would warn Sayu off about bothering him, so there was no need to lock it. Trudging over to his bed, he sat down on the edge and opened up his backpack. The Death Note was still in there.

" _This was unexpected, King of Death."_

Raito went still, his gaze going from the Death Note in his backpack to flit about his room at the familiar voice of the Divine entity from before. "Have you come to kill me for failing in my task of restoring the Shinigami Realm?" His voice came out in a whisper as fear gripped him.

" _We are not so cruel, little King. You shall still have your chance, but it is regrettable to say that you can no longer go back to the time you came from."_

"I can't… go back?" So he was stuck here? In the past? "I don't have my Note, but it is here! I can feel it!"

" _The way back has been sealed. You would do well to use your knowledge of what may come, should you choose to walk the same path."_

There was no sign of the entity present, apart from its voice. Shifting on his bed, and still glancing around his room, he set his backpack down before moving to lay on the bed. "I won't put my family through that… I can do things differently. I only need to kill to keep myself alive, right?" If he was in the past, he wasn't sure what did and did not apply anymore.

" _You need to regain your White Death Note. With that you will no longer be fully bound to your human body, and you will be able to enter the Shinigami Realm here. Do take care, though, for you can be killed while you are separated from your White Note. You are protected from the Death Notes, but not from physical attacks."_

"Where is it?" It felt very far away.

" _It will make its way back to you in due time."_

Raito shook his head and frowned. "That doesn't help me."

Silence answered him, leaving the once more seventeen-year old Raito to sigh and trace a finger over the white lettering on the cover of the Death Note. "At least I still have a chance." His gaze flicked to the TV on his desk as memories of what had transpired in his own past surfaced. "Otoharada Kurou has those kids and that teacher as hostages right now." The man was indeed a known killer. He couldn't let anything happen to those innocents.

"If I kill him like I did the last time…" No. He wasn't going to revisit that path. Raito grabbed a pen from inside of his backpack and opened the Death Note. Ignoring the instructions that had been written inside of it, he jotted Otoharada Kurou onto the first page of the Note, followed by instructions to release the hostages and to go to the roof where he would commit suicide. Once he was finished writing that down, he shut the Death Note and put the pen on his bedside table.

A few minutes passed and then a strange feeling passed over Raito. He felt revitalized, in a manner. Blinking, he sat up, looking at his hands. Nothing seemed different. After shoving the Death Note between his mattress and box spring, a safe place for it at the moment, he got up and made his way to the bathroom. Raito turned the light on then approached the mirror over the sink and stared wide-eyed as his reflection.

His irises were crimson and his skin was pale, but not in an unhealthy way. His complexion, which had been pretty damn good as a human, was absolutely flawless now. What was even more baffling was that his reflection had the crimson wings of his Shinigami self, but they were tied with some sort of black cord. He turned to the side to get a better look at his wings and the cord, which appeared to go through his shirt?

Raito lifted his shirt up in the back and nearly dropped it in surprise when he saw that the cord went into his skin below where the wings came out. Rubbing the area, he frowned as his hand passed through the cord. Is this what the entity had meant when it had said that he was bound to this human body? He let his shirt drop back down and retreated back to his bedroom. "What did that thing mean that it would make its way back to me?"

-KotDG-

L watched in morbid fascination as the supposed Shinigami, which looked more like an angel (not that he believed in those either), consumed his sixth apple. The White Death Note, which was what the Shinigami was calling it, sat on the table between them, which was also host to the bowl of apples that he had Quillsh bring to him. "Who is this King you mentioned?"

Ryuk paused mid-bite and blinked at the detective. After a moment of silence he finished the apple off then reached down and grabbed the last one in the bowl. "He's the King of the Shinigami. The Divine appointed him 'cause of what he had done in his life as a human and cause he can bring the Shinigami Realm back to life." He at least believed it would be possible for Raito to do that.

"Your King used to be human?" L frowned at this information, his gaze going to the White Death Note. He wanted to believe that this was all just a hoax, but here Ryuk was, still hovering overhead and packing away apples like there was no tomorrow. "Why does the Shinigami Realm need to be brought back to life? What happened to it?"

"As human as you are," Ryuk answered without hesitation. He wasn't giving very much information away about his King, and he knew better than to give the detective Raito's human name. There was no telling what would happen if L got ahold of that and did something to the Raito of this time. "Our Realm used to be like this one, just without all of this technological stuff. It was nice, and the apples there were delicious. It started decaying because the old king got greedy with the power. He diverted the life energy that was going to the Realm to himself. I suspect he also gave his second-in-command some of that power, but it didn't matter once the Divines decided to put him in Mu in place of my King."

"Mu?" That meant nothingness in Japanese. "What is this Mu?"

Ryuk contemplated telling L as he ate the last apple, his gaze on the White Note. "All humans will, without exception, eventually die. After they die, the place they go is Mu."

L blinked at him in a manner that made him seem owlish. "So they don't go anywhere, because there is nowhere for them to go to."

A grin stretched wide across Ryuk's face as he looked up at the detective. "Got it in one." At least he didn't have to explain it any further to the detective.

"What will happen if I use this Death Note?" L picked up the Note in question, and opened it to blank pages. It didn't appear to be anything of significance, and there were no words on the cover to denote what it was, like Ryuk's own Death Note.

"I don't know." Ryuk answered truthfully, because something like this had never happened before. The King wasn't bound by the rules, and the same applied to his Death Note. Now that it was in human hands… "You will have to give that back to him though."

"I make no promises." L monotoned as he thumbed through blank page after blank page. Reaching the back of the book, he blinked at the inside of the back cover. Faint against the white, only a shade darker was two words. A name. _Yagami Raito._ "Yagami Light." His gaze quickly flicked up to the Shinigami, who had noticeably tensed at the name and then cursed.

-KotDG-

There had been a great disturbance, one that instilled a fear deep within his core. Whatever it was, it bode ill for him. "Armonia Justin Beyondormason, I summon you."

Not even two seconds passed before the Shinigami appeared in front of him, looking as troubled as he felt. "My King?" His second-in-command bowed before him, a slight tremor in his body.

"I task you with finding out what caused that disturbance. Do whatever you deem necessary to erase what caused it."

Justin bowed again, his jeweled eyes glowing brightly in the dimness of the room. "As my king commands."


	5. A Killer's Conscience

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ChristineDae1997 (on FF.net) has asked my permission and received it to translate any of my stories, especially this one, into Russian, so that they may enjoy it in their native language.

While he was stuck in this thrice-damned mortal body, Raito realized that he still needed to feed. Further musings with the bathroom's mirror led him to discovering that yes, he had a lifespan. _Ninety-one years, eleven months, nineteen days, four hours and thirty-three seconds._ Now that he knew what his lifespan was, he was mentally counting down until he…what? Died? Him? The Shinigami King? There was no possible way that he was going to let himself die. He needed to get his own Death Note back, wherever the hell that was, and then he needed to get to the Shinigami Realm.

Raito tore his gaze away from the mirror and left the bathroom to head downstairs for breakfast. He hadn't slept easy last night, though it had been a relief to not go to the cram school. Why he had to do all of this crap for school was beyond him. Oh wait. No it wasn't. It was because of his parents. If he just… _No! I promised I wouldn't harm them this time. Maybe I can convince them I don't need it. I'm well ahead of the material at school, but I know they won't let me test out. It's only my last year of high school anyways, but they expect me to go to To-Oh University._

He couldn't let his human ideals control him. He wasn't human anymore, despite the circumstances. This was only temporary. _Only temporary. I'll get my Note back._ But once he got his note back he was going to… _Damn. I can't take on the entire Shinigami Realm by myself. The ones from my time were loyal to me, except for that one. Armonia Justin Beyondormason._ It stood to reason that Justin was here in this time, and the former King was also around. He didn't know how powerful the former King was, so he needed gather power. _I can't just hoard it all for myself though. I need to direct part of the energy I receive to the Shinigami Realm._

"Good morning, Raito," Sachiko greeted him, giving him a smile. "Are you feeling better?"

Raito gave his mother a cordial smile as he sat down at the table. He couldn't help but see her lifespan with her standing so far away from him. _62343792._ _She has forty-nine years left._ He hid a grimace at this knowledge that his mother would die in forty-nine years. "I'm feeling much better, Kaa-san." A tray with a collection of bowls and plates was set down before him. There was miso soup, natto, tsukemono, tamagoyaki, broiled salted salmon, nori and steamed rice, all of which smelled rather good. His mother must have gotten up early to fix all of this for him. "I can't eat all of this!"

"Yagami Raito! You will eat your breakfast." Sachiko commanded with a sharp tone that had the _teen_ staring at his mother in shock.

"H-hai!" He picked up the chopsticks set off to the side of the tray and quickly began eating under his mother's watchful gaze. A few minutes passed with just him eating while his mother went back to puttering about the kitchen.

"Good morning, Kaa-san!" Sayu joined them, faltering in the doorway to the kitchen when she spotted Raito. "Nii-chan! You're eating breakfast?" She tilted her head to one side, a look of confusion on her face.

Sachiko gave Raito a look that said 'keep eating' before she smiled at her daughter. "Sit down, Sayu." She placed another tray on the table and motioned for Sayu to sit there. This tray held remarkably less food, not that Sayu would notice. Raito had already eaten a large portion of his food by now, out of fear of his mother.

Wondering at how she was able to successfully cow him, Raito gave Sachiko a wary gaze before finally looking to Sayu. _106503978._ Eight-two years. His sister had eighty-two years. That was almost impressive. "Morning Sayu," he managed after a few more mouthfuls of food. His mother gave him a somewhat pointed look, to which he motioned to his nearly cleared tray. He ate the last few bites of food and got up, bringing the tray and dishes over to the sink.

"Will you be okay to walk to school, Raito?" His mother asked in a hushed tone as she made some hot soapy water for the dishes.

"I'm good, Kaa-san. Thank you for breakfast." Raito gave her a kiss on the cheek then went back upstairs to get his backpack, as well as the Death Note from between his mattress and box spring. He rushed back down the stairs and went to the foyer where he slipped on his shoes.

-KotDG-

His search for whatever might have caused the disturbance and bothered his King seemed like an impossible task. He wasn't able to locate the cause for it, but he did know that it was somewhere in Japan. All he could do was fly around aimlessly and hope to find… Wait! What was that? He paused high up in the air as he gazed down at a human that had no name or a lifespan. Blinking, he stared hard at the human, trying to figure out this puzzling quandary. All humans had a lifespan, and a name. This one didn't.

Justin flew in closer to get a better look, faltering when the human looked up in his direction. He frowned when the human stared and glanced around to see if he happened to be looking at something else. There was nothing else around. Could this human see him? He looked back down, only to find that the human was no longer there.

Maybe this was what the King had sensed. He had orders to erase it, so he would have to find the human again. Quickly scanning the growing number of humans out, he found the one that had no name and no lifespan and dove down to follow him. Justin passed through the humans without thought, trailing after the nameless human who broke away from the crowd and went into an alleyway.

He turned into the alleyway as well, only to find that his target was nowhere in sight. Justin came to a halt, his wings giving a lazy flap as he scowled. Hovering down the alleyway, he checked the intersecting alleys and found that he had, once again, lost his prey. "If I wasn't mistaken, he was wearing a school uniform."

Kids did that here in Japan, not that he understood the why of it. He would have to find another student with the same uniform and follow them to wherever they went. The nameless human was likely to be there.

-KotDG-

L balanced a phone on his shoulder, unusual for him, but in light of the circumstances he wasn't going to be letting go of the White Death Note just to hold the phone with his customary and still rather unusual way of holding damn near anything. The Death Note, as the Shinigami called it, was top priority, and so he held on to it with all of the fingers (and thumb) of one hand, while he typed away at his specially built computer with his other.

"I know I have cases to work on, but something has come up. Something important." He paused and listened as the official leader of the current task force working on his most recent case ranted to the computer he was speaking through in their offices. He had a voice synthesizer built into his phone, of which was the only prototype in the world and was not allowed to be released to anyone else under pain of death.

L wanted to sigh, but he refrained from doing so as he finished typing and grabbed the mouse. Everything was quickly highlighted and put into an email that was double-encrypted, which he promptly sent. "I just emailed my notes to you. All the information you need to make the arrests is in there. Your cases are solved, goodbye." With that taken care of he hung up the phone and closed everything out on the computer.

"I have the boarding passes you requested, and have enrolled you into Daikoku Private Academy as well as Gamou Prep Academy for the remainder of the school year. Your alias is Rue Ryuuzaki." Quillsh stated as he walked into the room, his gaze wary as he approached the young detective. "I don't know what has brought this on, L, but I will assist you." The old English gentleman did worry for his ward, but the rather anti-social detective was able to take care of himself. If only he had raised him up differently, then maybe… _What's done is done and there is no use in lamenting over the past. We have the future in front of us, and that is what matters most._

"Thank you, Wammy." L took the boarding passes and folders that Quillsh had prepared for him and immediately started poring over them while the old man stared at him in shock. Never before had he thanked him, nor had he used his real name, be it his given name or his surname, since the introduction of the codenames. This oversight on his part, if it truly was that, brought a smile to Quillsh's face after the shock finally wore off.

"I'll go prepare the private jet."

L was left alone with the Shinigami named Ryuk, not that Quillsh could see him, who had been oddly silent since his initial outburst at discovering who owned the White Note. "His name had not been in the Death Note when I first picked it up." He had checked, cover to cover, for a sign that it belonged to somebody. Why the name had appeared, faint as it was, was something not even Ryuk had information on.

"What are you going to do when you find him?" Ryuk finally asked, and it was obvious that this question had been on his mind for some time. Things were different than the last time. Last time Light had been **human** , and now he was a Shinigami. L couldn't very well arrest him for taking lives to lengthen his life span.

"Yagami cannot help that he needs to take lives if he wishes to survive himself. It is a fundamental flaw that all Shinigami seem to have if what you told me after I picked up the Note is correct." Of course, without this Note Light would not be able to take lives to lengthen his own. To his knowledge, Light had no access to any other Death Notes, unless Ryuk wasn't sharing other important information. "I will observe him."


	6. Not So Invincible

Raito waited for the Shinigami he recognized to be his betrayer to pass by him in the alleyway. How Justin missed him was beyond him, but it gave him an opportunity to observe him until he took off. Stepping out from the doorway, he habitually straightened his uniform and dusted it off while he speculated over what had just happened.

He had first sensed a Shinigami on his way to school. He had put it off as the Ryuk of this time coming to find him now that he had acquired the Death Note. It was when he remembered that Ryuk hadn't appeared until five days after he had started using the Death Note that he looked for the Shinigami he could sense. How surprised and shocked he had been when he saw that it was Justin who was there.

His immediate reaction was to start running and duck into the first alleyway he came across. It was there he turned into an open doorway and waited there in the shadows. When Justin went past he came to the conclusion that something was off. Couldn't the Shinigami sense him? He was able to sense Justin, so wouldn't the reverse work?

 _If he can't sense me then how did he find me?_ Raito frowned and continued on to school while he tried to figure out his newest problem. He slowed down when he sensed the Shinigami nearby once again and scoured the sky for the familiar figure. After a few more minutes of walking he was within sight of his school and the openness of the area allowed for him to find Justin once again, only he wasn't up in the sky like before. He was trailing after some of the other students that went to his school and looking around. _Okay. He definitely can't sense me. Is he not the same one from my time?_

Maybe… Maybe not. Raito had to observe this Shinigami further. Keeping out of Justin's sight wouldn't be easy, but the crowd of students would prove beneficial for him. Taking care to blend in, he made his way into the school building to attend yet another day of high school. Avoiding the Shinigami would be harder, but he was up to the challenge while he figured Justin out.

-KotDG-

He had searched the school top to bottom over the course of the day and couldn't find a trace of the nameless human. How he was able to slip through the cracks like that was beyond him. By the time the school let out for the day he was irritably flying high over the school. His chances of finding him, for it was definitely a male, were dwindling.

Scowling, he gave one final glance at the humans milling about below him then smirked. There was the boy, trying to get away unnoticed. Swooping down, he kept his distance as he followed the nameless human, brow furrowed as he scowled. If the human didn't have a name then he had no means to kill him with the Death Note. So, if this human had no name then the rules wouldn't apply, would they? The King had told him to use whatever means he found necessary, so they wouldn't apply anyways, would they?

The human turned and went into a park where he approached a bench and sat down. This made Justin pause, if only slightly, before flying over to the human.

-KotDG-

"Why are you following me, Armonia Justin Beyondormason?" Raito sat there and attempted to make himself look as relaxed as possible. He noted that the Shinigami had halted, a look of shock on his face. _Hm… That's interesting._

"H-how… How do you know who I am?" Justin's tone was defensive and the Shinigami flexed his fingers, which caused them to pop and crack.

 _So he is the one from this time… Shit, he has my name._ Raito kept his expression neutral as he stared the Shinigami down. "And why shouldn't I know who you are?" He let his lips form a very slight smirk, his eyes glinting and glowing slightly.

Justin looked positively baffled by the question and could only stare. "What are you? You have no name…"

It had come out in a harsh whisper, but Raito had heard it nonetheless. He blinked, a slight glimmer of confusion fliting across his face before he fully smirked. "Something you needn't concern yourself with." If Justin was unable to confirm what he was then maybe there was hope yet. Even better, the Shinigami was unable to see his name.

Justin was growing frustrated and he lunged forwards, only to phase through Raito. This was unexpected, for the both of them, but the Shinigami wasn't able to see the expression that passed over the human's face, much like the confusion earlier.

"Pathetic." Raito got up from the bench and started leaving the park. He hadn't expected the near attack, but seeing that he couldn't be harmed by the Shinigami he did feel some margin of relief. That was paltry compared to relief he felt from the Shinigami being unable to see his name. He didn't turn around to see if the Shinigami was following him, he could sense him well enough for that and it seemed like he was staying in the park.

-KotDG-

The Shinigami hadn't followed him home, which he was grateful for as he didn't need that kind of headache to deal with on top of his mother. It was obvious that Justin was trying to take his life, no doubt on the orders of the former…or was it the current King? With the Shinigami's inability to touch him or to see his name it left him immune to them.

"Tadaima," Raito called out as he slipped his everyday shoes off and stepped into his house shoes.

"Welcome home, Raito." Sachiko's greeting came from the living room. After a few seconds she came into the doorway, a feather duster in her hand and her hair tucked under a bandana. "I made a snack for you, dear. It's in the kitchen."

"Ah… Hai, okaa-san." Raito smiled faintly and went to the kitchen to collect his snack. He took it upstairs and placed it on his desk then retrieved his homework from his backpack. With a drawn out sigh he began the tedious task of his human life. _I need to figure out how to get out of this human body._ He automatically reached toward the plate his snack was on, only to draw his hand back with a hiss when he nicked his thumb on a chip in the rim of the plate. He stared at his thumb, wide-eyed, as blood swelled up and bead at the cut. _Otherwise it will be the death of me._


	7. L

He absently gnawed on one of the apples from the bushel he had been presented with upon their early morning arrival in Japan. Well aware of the varying measurements humanity had, a bushel equated to thirty-two pounds. That was a lot of apples. A lot of delicious apples. Each of the delectable fruits were large, the flesh and meat of them crispy and sweet. They were bi-colored, and from what he understood they were called Fuji, a type of apple that even the Japanese humans were extremely fond of.

The morsel was gone within seconds, core and all, and another was picked up. Ryuk held off on biting into it, his yellow-ringed crimson irises focusing on L as he got ready for the day. _Well,_ thought the Shinigami as he noted the faded jeans and white, three-quartered sleeve shirt that had been the detective's usual in the time Ryuk had known him before. _Some things don't ever change._ Last of all were the loosely laced tennis shoes that had seen better days.

"You will accompany me to the Private Academy and more than likely the Prep Academy." L's tone left him no room for argument, not that he'd go against the detective's orders out of sheer spite. L had every last scrap of information he could find on Raito, even going so far as hacking into the NPA database to obtain files on Yagami Soichiro. It was bad enough that he had gotten files on the Chief of the NPA; worse still was that he had even gotten files on both Sachiko and Sayu as well.

"Can I bring some apples?" Ryuk saw no point in trying to dissuade the detective from having him come along. The apples were as easily taken as they were given, not that he was addicted to them. Nope. Totally wasn't addicted to the apples. He scarfed the one he'd been holding down followed by several more in quick succession.

L's expression was unreadable for the Shinigami, and despite that it felt as if the detective's stare was dissecting him. After a full moment he nodded, much to Ryuk's delight. "So long as they remain unseen."

Ryuk immediately became crestfallen at the prospect of having to hide his apples. While he might have been invisible to humans the apples surely wouldn't be. "I can't make apples invisible!" he sputtered, leveling a near panicked gaze on the detective. It was obvious enough that L knew that, and was giving him an ultimatum. Leave behind the apples or forsake his duty to keep watch and guard over the White Note. It was highly unlikely that his apples would go anywhere, but his mind was unable to rationalize such a thought.

"You could just stay behind and gorge on the apples," L monotoned.

Ryuk gave his wings an irritated flap while he stared at the damn apples. He would not abandon his duty just because he was being plied with sweet, juicy apples. "The apples won't go anywhere," he finally reasoned, giving the large round fruits a brief glance.

"Then let us go." L gave him no chance to grab another apple and scarf it down. The detective was out the door, the White Note sealed in a locked container that required the print of his right pinky, a scan of his left eye and the phrase "Shinigami like apples" in perfect monotone to open tucked away in the satchel bag that was slung over his shoulder.

This particular container had been acquired before their departure from England, and L had tested it quite thoroughly before finally acquiescing the King's Death Note to it. As easy as it would have been to simply phase his hand through both the satchel and the container to take back the White Note, the fact that L had said satchel situated so that it was across the front of his body prevented him from doing so. He had perfect peripheral vision and would notice any approach from those directions. The detective was also likely to notice Ryuk phasing through his body, of which the Shinigami had no desire to do so. Therefore he was at an impasse with L.

Ryuk followed after L, a sour look on his face as he was now bereft of his precious apples. Hopefully Light would have an apple on him.

-KotDG-

Upon waking up for the day Light had contemplated on whether or not he should even bother going to school. The discovery that he could be physically harmed had shocked him and filled him with dread. He was safe from the supernatural, at least until Beyondormason wised up and sought out a human to carry out the deed. He wasn't sure if the rebel Shinigami would be able to figure out that much on his own, and he didn't want to leave it to chance. Still, he had done a rather good job of avoiding the nuisance that Beyondormason was making himself out to be.

Skipping school would likely raise the ire of his mother, and she had proven herself to be rather terrifying when he had been _sick_. Raito resigned himself to another day of playing dodge the Shinigami, unaware that there was a surprise in store for him when he finally arrived at the establishment known as Daikoku Private Academy, and that it would follow him to Gamou Prep Academy. Had he any knowledge of what awaited him, he would have not only skipped school, but likely also attempt to flee the country, as futile of an effort as that would be.

Walking into his homeroom class, early as per usual, he noticed that someone other than the teacher was already there. He paused as he took in the all too familiar clothes the person wore and the messy black hair, despite the fact that the person was standing at the windows looking out at the courtyard. No name or lifespan floated over their head, but then again, he needed to look at the man's face to see that.

_What is he doing here?!_ The familiar sensation of dread curling in his stomach filled him as he recognized his former nemesis, who by no rights should know about him or even be anywhere near here at this point in time. He had only taken one life thus far, and the method of which had been completely different from the first time. There was no possible way to pin the murder, which was justifiable, on him.

"Yagami-san, are you okay? You don't look well," came the concerned query from his homeroom teacher.

His gaze flicked to the teacher while the person, who was definitely L—because, honestly, who else dressed like that?—didn't move at all from their position at the window, which was dangerously close to his assigned seat. "I'm fine, sensei. I just need to go sit down." He gave a perfected smile, in the hope that it would placate his teacher. The teacher returned the smile and went back to going over his lesson plans for the day, leaving Raito with no choice but to go to his desk.

It felt like he was walking towards certain doom as he got closer to the person he instinctively knew was L. Once he was several feet away did he pause, scarcely breathing as he took in the way the detective stood at the window. There was no slouch in the man's shoulders, which was unusual for him and made his true height, which was still a few inches shy of his own, noticeable.

"It is rude to stare, Yagami Light." The sudden soft statement had Raito flinching but he didn't look away as L shifted to get a peripheral glance at him.

The Shinigami did away with his usual façade and openly frowned his displeasure at the situation. To start playing mind games with the detective would likely lead to his own destruction, and he still had to find out what the hell the man was doing here. "What do you want, L?" It was best to just get straight to the point.

"I came across the most curious book the other day," the detective began, giving Raito a more sideways glance to get a good judge on his facial reactions.

Raito stiffened, a finger of fear drawing chills up his spine as he immediately made the connection that L was getting at. The detective had his Death Note. How and why he knew about it, when in his original past L couldn't even fathom the existence of Shinigami until he had seen Rem during their apprehension of Higuchi, was something Raito wanted answers to.

L must have been satisfied by whatever he saw-fear, trepidation-because he turned fully to face the young Shinigami King. The glance up at the floating red letters and numerals above his head was more than obvious, but the detective stood there looking expectant. "Was it everything you thought it would be?"

Raito blinked, incredulously at first, as he took in L's true name. A sudden hysterical feeling replaced the fear, and he very nearly gave a sobbed laugh, his hand covering his mouth to prevent it from spilling out. He hastily sat down at his desk and let his gaze go to the numbers under the name _L Lawliet_. They were unmoving, neither counting down nor upwards. Whether it was due to his possession of the White Note or not, Raito wasn't sure. He was still stuck on the man's name while his mind attempted to process the unchanging lifespan and what it could mean.


	8. Unwilling Compromise

Was L's name everything he had hoped for it to be? Raito had to ponder this for a moment. That L was quite literally the man's given name had been extraordinarily genius. He would have never figured that out in his past lifetime, but to see it here, and like this. It made it that much more surreal. "L Lawliet…" He murmured the name aloud to himself, garnering no reaction from the detective, who had always had such a good poker face. "You can't die…if that's what I think I'm seeing means." This statement, however, did get a reaction.

L blinked at first, then cocked his head to one side while his eyebrows furrowed. "I can't…die?"

Raito glanced up at the unchanging lifespan then nodded after a few seconds. "Your lifespan isn't decreasing. The lifespan of all living creatures and Lesser Shinigami are always decreasing. Even mine is, because I don't have **my** Death Note." He kept his voice low, mindful of the teacher at the front of the classroom and of the students that had started to trickle in. Smiling faintly, he then switched to French. " _You have_ _ **my**_ _Death Note, of that I am sure._ "

" _You are confident that I have it. Maybe I can't die because I'm God._ " L joined him in French, surprised that Yagami Raito even knew how to speak it. That hadn't been in the teenager's profile.

Raito snorted at L's declaration of being God and rolled his eyes. " _And I'm the Pope. I know you have it, Lawliet._ " He liked the detective's surname, if that was even what it was. It was, as Misa had once put it, pretty. " _I do need it back, otherwise the rebel Shinigami will be able to kill me once they figure out how, especially if I want to take on the faux-Shinigami King._ "

"Don't call me that," L said stiffly, reverting back to Japanese. He didn't like how easily his name rolled off of Yagami's tongue, nor the way his eyes seemed to gleam as he spoke it. "I might give it back to you once you've convinced me that you won't use it for personal gains." He waited for the teenage Shinigami's reaction, and oh it was worth it.

Raito's expression darkened while his body went rigid. His true eye color, that bright blood red, replaced the honey brown for a split second. He quickly collected himself when someone slammed their books down onto the desk next to his, his perfect façade back in place. " _I put my human ideals behind me when I was tasked with restoring the Shinigami Realm by God's envoy. If I fail in my duty then I will be stripped of my status and cast into non-existence. I would like to live, thank you very much,_ " he snapped in French, the volume of his voice starting to rise.

"You are drawing attention to us, Yagami-kun." L didn't want to believe what this thing before him had just revealed, but Yagami had no reason to lie. He had his proof that the teenager wasn't human, but it likely wasn't a good idea to use that against him. L would, eventually, return the Death Note to its proper owner, but he needed to observe him first. He needed to keep Raito close by, and under surveillance.

"Then maybe you should give me back my Note," Raito hissed out, his eye color flashing a second time, though thankfully to a lesser degree.

"I will, once I've had time to determine if you are capable of handling it or not," L murmured, his gaze going to the teacher. Staying in school would be unconducive to what he wanted. If Raito were truly from the future, then he could test out of the rest of his high school year. "Give me a moment."

Raito opened his mouth to respond, but L quickly walked up to the front of the classroom. He pulled something out of his pocket and held it up for the teacher to look at while words were exchanged. At first, the teacher looked ready to laugh, like L had told him some sort of joke, but then he paled slightly and nodded.

"Yagami-kun, please come with me," L called from the front of the classroom, baffling the Shinigami who acquiesced silently.

"What did you do in there?" Raito asked in a harsh whisper once they were in the hallway and walking to the front of the building.

"I told the teacher that I was in need of your assistance on a case and that you needed to be excused from classes for the rest of the year." L said it so simply that Raito stopped walking, his mouth slackening as he stared at the detective's back.

"My parents will flip," was the very first thing that came out of Raito's mouth, because it was absolutely true. They valued his education very highly. "They wouldn't even let me test out of high school! What makes you think that they'll let you take me out of classes for the rest of the _year_?"

L paused and turned his head to glance at Raito over his shoulder, everything about his demeanor and expression screaming out the detective's unconcern. "You'll be attending Wammy's House, or at least that's what I'll tell your parents."

 _Wammy's House?_ Wasn't that… the headquarters of that Near brat? In England? Raito blinked in his confusion and resumed following after L. "Why?"

"I will not answer questions that you already know the answer to, Yagami _Light_." L led the way out to the front of the school where Ryuk was waiting for them.

"Hello, Raito-sama," Ryuk stated with a grin. "You know, you aren't looking so good."

-KotDG-

He couldn't believe his luck! He had stopped searching through the school to go back outside and complain aloud to himself about this fool task of finding the nameless human when, lo and behold, he found not only said human, but another one without a name or lifespan and some sort of human looking thing with wings and no name himself. The winged thing must have been an angel, at least that was what he was assuming.

"What on earth is that over there?" He heard the other nameless human say, his sharp gaze on Justin.

This didn't bode well. He now had two nameless humans that were causing the disturbance to his King, and there was even an angel in the mix.

"That would be a Lesser Shinigami who goes by the name of Armonia Justin Beyondormason," the brunet he had originally been trying to find intoned.

"He's the reason-"

"Shut up! He doesn't know anything." The same brunet cut in to prevent the angel thing from giving away information. "He doesn't even recognize me."

"He looks to be rather distressed about something," the other human with black hair and soulless looking black eyes deadpanned.

"Me. He tried to attack me yesterday, but he phased right through me." The brunet said with a little smirk.

Justin gave them all an irritated glare and flapped his wings to take off towards the sky. He had to report this back to his King. As things currently stood, there was no way he could deal with two human discrepancies while they had an angel with them.

-KotDG-

"That was weird," Ryuk commented as he followed L and Raito to the car that the old English fellow had brought to in front of the school. "Don't you want me to stop him, Raito-sama?"

Raito looked thoughtful then shook his head. "He won't answer to me, and he's already deemed a traitor even though he isn't… Well, no. He'd be the same as he was from the future."

"So I take it that is a Shinigami from this time period?" L was the first to reach the car and opened the back passenger side door. He motioned for Raito to get in then followed the teenager into the car himself. He shut the door before Ryuk could even attempt to get into the car.

"Yes, he's from this time period." Raito glanced through L's window to look at Ryuk who looked a bit lost for a few seconds. "Like I said, he didn't recognize me, and I intend that he doesn't find anything out about me."

"Then going to England would help you, would it not?" L had already decided on that matter, and neither Raito or his parents had a choice in it.

"The Shinigami have ways of tracking anyone from their realm. I don't know if they can track me that way, but they should be able to track you. He likely has your name now." Raito could certainly see it, but he didn't know that Justin hadn't been able to see it.

"Can't a Death Note be used to kill a Shinigami?" L watched the teen, his expression a little less guarded now.

"Only the White Note can. The regular Death Notes can't kill other Shinigami, but since you won't give me _my_ Note back, I can't take care of Justin." Raito shot L a sour look and settled into his side of the back seat.

"And can you be killed by anything?" L's expression quickly became curious and he leaned closer to Raito as he waited for an answer.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Raito muttered, unwilling to share that he could in fact be hurt physically with the detective.

"To the airport, Watari," L called out to the driver, who had been listening in on their conversation the whole time, once it was clear that Raito wouldn't be divulging such sensitive information.

"What about my parents?" Raito asked hurriedly, worry quickly replacing his sullenness. He also didn't have any clothes, or toiletries! "What about clothes and other things I'd need?"

"I never said we were going to speak with them in person." L gave the teen an amused glance then sunk further into the rather comfortable seat. "And we can always get you anything you need in Great Britain."


	9. Observations

Staring at the live feed of his father on the excessively large monitor fixated to the wall in L's personal work area at Wammy's, Raito could tell that describing the expression on Yagami Soichiro's face as absolutely livid did not do the man justice. He was unfathomably angry that his only son had been spirited away from high school without any notice. Thankfully the Japanese officer had no idea as to where he currently was, because Raito felt truly fearful for his own existence with the gaze his father had leveled on him—through a video feed of all things! L was unfazed, as expected, by the threats his father was issuing to them both, and simply cut the feed once the fact that Raito was not returning any time soon was conveyed as much as possible.

"I can't believe you did that," Raito finally forced out in a harsh whisper, his gaze still on the now black monitor as though he expected the live feed to be reestablished and his father to reappear even angrier than before. He turned his attention to L after a minute or two, the detective watching him with an expression of open curiosity.

"You truly fear your father's wrath," L mused aloud, his tone slightly surprised at the openness of Raito's emotions. He had expected the Shinigami King to be more guarded, and especially colder in personality—not this. Whatever this was…

"As illogical as it is, I do fear his wrath. I am…different from how I was before I was given this role, and things that normally shouldn't affect me do." Raito had never seen his father so angry before either, and never had it been directed towards him. Culturally, it was understandable. There was a huge emphasis on doing well academically in Japan, to the point that a child would literally be disowned if they started to do poorly and especially if they didn't get their grades up. Him leaving in his final year of high school was an affront to his entire family, one that L possibly didn't understand despite the man's intellect and genius. Sometimes being exceedingly brilliant made a person exceedingly stupid when it came to certain things. The same could have been said for his pre-Shinigami self.

"And how were you before this role?" L was invading his personal space again, and intent on finding out about Raito's past self. For that, though, the Shinigami needed to be willing to share that information, which he was not. "I had thought you to be very guarded with your true persona, and cold in personality. You are a gifted liar, if my assumptions are correct, which is why I need to observe you and to make certain that you would not use the so-called Death Note for you own gains."

L had pegged him perfectly, at least the Yagami Raito he was trying to move away from. He opened his mouth, maybe in an attempt to discredit any of L's assumptions, but closed it and looked away. A long moment of silence passed, and he could feel the detective's gaze on him. "I was like that… I wore a mask to hide my true self from the world, to try and deceive you, but you and your instincts were always right about me. I'm trying to put it behind me, because there is something more important than deciding something that I rightfully have no place in deciding."

L had his head cocked to one side when Raito returned his gaze to the detective, a contemplative look on his face. It was odd, seeing the detective in this manner, and Raito had to wonder if this was what L would have been like if he had truly not been Kira. The chances of him having met L would have been less than one percent if he hadn't been Kira, as the man relished in working alone.

"L… Do you think we would have ever crossed paths if I had never picked up the Death Note?" Raito asked suddenly, the question causing the technically older man to slightly raise an eyebrow.

"No." The answer was quick and blunt, and stated in a flat tone. L studied the brunet carefully and noted that his answer, which was only partial, seemed to affect him. Raito looked crestfallen. "I know we would have ended up working on cases together at some point in the future. You are incredibly intelligent, and have helped out on the cases your father had. You would have made detective rather quickly, and would have been known internationally within a few years. I might have been made to concede the third or second spot as best detective in the world to you."

Raito blinked as he processed what L was saying, a hint of a smile replacing his crestfallen look when he realized that he had been too hasty in assuming that L was done answering him. "Unfortunately, that won't happen…" Even if it had been a hope of his. "I had admired you. I still do. You were the only person who was at my level." It was uncharacteristic of him to admit as much. In fact, this whole conversation was uncharacteristic of him, but like he had admitted earlier he was different from before. Maybe not by a whole lot, but he was certainly make an effort to not be the monster that had been Kira. "And you are still the only person at my level. Maybe even beyond it."

L stayed silent for a long moment, his gaze pensive as he continued his study of Raito. He knew that the young Shinigami wasn't lying, what with how wonderfully open Raito's expressions seemed to be. It went against everything he had assumed, and what the Shinigami had confessed. Despite that, he knew that this was no ploy to gain his trust or to get the White Death Note back. "Do not be so hasty to assume something like that. You have yet to prove yourself to me, so until then I consider us at least equals in the matters of intelligence. Yours was simply not cultivated here at Wammy's." Raito was certainly on his level, an admirable feat given what he had just pointed out.

Raito gave a gentle exhale and looked away from the detective as he tried to school his face into a neutral expression. It wasn't really working, and he ended up looking exasperated when he glanced back in L's direction. "You're saying that to make me feel better." It was the only logical recourse, and it was somewhat working. Okay, more than somewhat.

"I do mean it, Yagami-kun," L stated in a soft tone, his expression matching his voice. After a moment of silence stretched on between them the detective got up from the work station and shuffled over to a small circular table laden with a variety of sweets. In the center of every diabetics' nightmare was a large bowl of apples. The very same Fuji apples that L had Quillsh Wammy procure for the insufferable Shinigami known as Ryuk. It was one of these very apples that the detective picked up, turning it over in his hand as he inspected it for blemishes and bruises.

Raito watched the rather odd and near ritualistic display, his gaze drawn to the apple L held. A sudden craving for the fruit, which he could smell as acutely as the massive amount of sugar that surrounded its brethren, and the detective himself. Entranced by the fruit, he failed to notice when he got up from his own seat and started to walk over to where the detective stood.

L, however, did notice Raito's movement and turned to face the young Shinigami King, an expression of intrigue on his face. He held out the apple for Raito to take, watching with faint amusement as the Shinigami followed the fruit with his gaze. "Would you like the apple, Yagami-kun?" His voice seemed to snap Light out of whatever trance he seemed to be in and a stricken look formed on the Shinigami's face as his gaze went from the fruit to L himself.

"No," Raito said a bit sharply, color suffusing his cheeks as he looked away from L and the troublesome apple. "Thank you," he quickly added in a softer tone once he realized how harsh he had sounded. Clearing his throat, and feeling awkward, he returned his gaze to L. "Where is the room I'll be staying in?"

L glanced back at the apple then set it back into the bowl, at least for the time being. Raito's reaction to the fruit that Ryuk seemed to obsess over had him wondering if all Shinigami loved apples. It was a theory he could test later. "Right this way, Yagami-kun."

-KotDG-

His grotesque features twisted as he scowled, the gaze from his bulbous yellow eyes fixed on the spot where the Death Note he had dropped into the human realm had landed. It was gone, of course, and he knew where it was, but there was something off. He couldn't quite put his claw on it, someone had picked up the Death Note and he could not get a read on them. He knew they had only used it once, and he knew that the remaining lifespan from the human killed with the Death Note would go to him, because it couldn't go to another human. It hadn't done that, and he could tell, so that was another piece of this puzzle he had to figure out.

This puzzle wasn't going to solve itself, and though he had intended to wait five days before approaching the new owner of the Death Note something told him that waiting would be bad. Unfurling his wings Ryuk took off with a slight grumble. Why was the Death Note in England when it had landed in Japan?


	10. Lifespan

Raito transitioned into the daily life at Wammy's like flowing molasses in the dead of an Arctic winter. Very slowly. Wammy and Roger avoided him like the plague, and the children did the same, likely due to the urgings of their caregivers. L stuck to the young Shinigami like an epoxy resin in his waking moments, which seemed to not help matters at all. Raito didn't mind it so much though, because L didn't needle him about the Death Notes or Shinigami.

"Hey, Light, I have something for you to work on." L gave him things to do instead. Things like puzzles, equations, riddles, multi-level labyrinths and whatnot.

Raito took the proffered piece of paper that was mostly blank. There was a set of numbers on the papers. They looked familiar, somehow. _6489700_. Under that was a single five. "L…" This was a lifespan, and the single five meant five years. Did L understand how to convert a lifespan?

"Divide the large number by three thousand five hundred fifty-six, and then divide it again by three hundred sixty-five to receive the answer to the equation." L was pale, something he hadn't noticed about the detective until just now.

"How did you come up with this equation, L?" Raito dropped the paper, as it was meaningless, and stood up to confront L. Only the detective was more than just pale. He was also trembling.

"I…" His hands fluttered about almost nervously while he seemed to be searching for what to say. "The Note."

Raito himself went white as a sheet, because the only conclusion he could come to was that L had tested the White Note. He had used it, and it was adversely affecting him. Raito didn't even know how using the White Note would affect a human like L, but they were likely going to find out. "L, tell me what happened," he demanded in a gentle tone while he lightly gripped the detective by his forearms. A spark passed through him at the contact, along with the familiar sensation of gaining life energy.

L shuddered outright at the interaction, his reaction a visceral one as opposed to being done consciously. His trembling seemed to lessen immediately and he was no longer as pale. "I… What just happened?" The detective blinked, his eyes wide while he stared at Raito. Then his gaze flicked upwards to the space above Raito's head. "It's going up?"

Holy shit. L could see his lifespan. How could L see his lifespan? How did he know the lifespan conversion equation? "Tell me what happened to you first. What did you do, Lawliet?"

"I used your Note," L started in a harsh whisper, his gaze snapping back to Raito's face. "One of my old solved cases. I had to be sure it worked." The test subject had been someone in prison, already scheduled to die in a few years' time. Five years to be precise. "As soon as I put the pen down I suddenly knew how to…" He didn't have words to describe it, but he knew how to determine how many years a person had left. "And then I could see the names and the numbers." And he had felt so terrible, like he was physically ill, until Raito had touched him.

Raito frowned as he listened, his gaze flicking up at L's frozen lifespan for a second. Then he looked up at it again, this time his mouth going slack. The numbers had gone up. L's lifespan had impossibly increased by two and a half years. The numbers were still not ticking down.

"Light? Is something wrong?" L was looking up now, only he couldn't see his own lifespan like this.

"It went up." It was all Raito had to say, his voice thick with disbelief. This wasn't supposed to happen. L wasn't supposed to see names and lifespans, and he wasn't supposed to be able to increase his own lifespan by using the… Oh god. It was because he had used the White Note. Where the hell was Ryuk when he needed him?

"Hey, Raito-sama! Guess what I…" Ryuk phased through the wall directly behind them, only to stop and stare at the two of them. More decidedly at L. "His lifespan went up, Raito-sama!" And now they had a third person to muse on the impossibility that L was quickly becoming.

"He used my Note, Ryuk." Raito looked in Ryuk's direction, a frown on his face that only deepened. Behind Ryuk was the Ryuk of this time, and he was staring at Raito. Wonderful. First L doing impossible things, and now he had two Ryuks to deal with. "But we can talk about that once you tell me why your other self is here." And God, he couldn't call both of them Ryuk. That would only make things more confusing.

The grotesquely formed Ryuk looked utterly confused at the fact that the more angel-like Ryuk was being addressed by a name that should have only been his. His stare was starting to border on creepy.

"L, will you be okay for a moment?" Raito asked, suddenly realizing that he was still holding on to the detective's forearms. He loosened his hold, only for L to grasp onto him in return. "Just for a moment. I need to figure out our…Ryuk situation, and then we can figure out what's going on with you." Hopefully.

L reluctantly released Raito and moved to sit down on the chair the young Shinigami vacated. He watched listlessly as Raito went over to the pair of Ryuks, which he wasn't even in the mood to begin to question.

Raito, meanwhile, had expected the Ryuk of this time to eventually show up, but this was before the five day grace period he'd been given in his own past. Things were different though, and he needed to find out how this Ryuk knew to seek him out sooner. Whatever method was used to track him down could be used by other Shinigami as well. "Do you know who I am?" It was the most important question for the time being.

Ryuk of the past looked to his future self, who was watching the other human with a curious expression on his face, then to the person called Raito. His future self had added the suffix _sama_ to this person's name, and there was only one person worthy of being addressed in such a way in his book. It was also important to note that in no way was he stupid. "You are the true King of the Shinigami."

"What makes you say that, Shinigami Ryuk?" Raito had felt an odd mix of relief and concern at the answer he was given, so he needed to press for more information before he would decide on what to do with the Lesser Shinigami.

"That is me from the future," Ryuk answered, pointing to his future self. He could kinda see it now that he was looking the angel-like creature over. "He called you Raito- _sama_ ," he added, stressing the suffix as way of explanation.

"And you deduced that I'm the true Shinigami King just from that?" It was a redundant question, to which Ryuk nodded anyways. Raito was thankful that Ryuk was quite simple, though, because it made things easier. They were the same despite their difference in appearance. "Do you swear your loyalty to me?"

"You already have it, my King." Ryuk gave a toothy grin before a strange feeling passed over him. It seemed to affect his future self as well, because he gave a peculiar shudder.

Raito watched as the equivalent of what he'd gone through happened to the two Ryuks. They quite suddenly flew at each other and then merged. Well, more the past Ryuk was pulled into the future one and then it was just the one.

"That felt horrible." Ryuk scrunched his face up then looked down at himself.

"Figure yourself out later, Ryuk." Raito very quickly went back over to L, the detective still his number one priority. "He used-"

"The White Note. You already mentioned that, Raito-sama. Unfortunately even I don't know what it will do to him." Ryuk slowly wandered over, cracking his neck and popping every joint he was able to. "His lifespan froze as soon as he touched it. It increased when he used it, and somehow you were able to draw some of that extra life energy into yourself." That was all they knew.

"He can see lifespans and names too," Raito added, which made Ryuk look at him with a sudden frown.

"Are you sure about that?" Ryuk returned his gaze to L and studied the detective a bit more. Gaining that ability from using a Death Note was impossible. Only Shinigami… Oh. L had used the White Note, which wasn't a regular Death Note. "He's turning into a Shinigami."


End file.
